ASSESSMENT

SOUND TOTAL MARKS= 35

PART-1 [1 x 15 = 15]

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. Which range of wave frequencies includes only sounds that can be heard by a human with

normal hearing?

A. 3.0 Hz to 300Hz

B. 30 Hz to 3000Hz

C. 300 Hz to 30 000 Hz

D. 3000 Hz to 300 000 Hz

2. A man holding a starting pistol stands 640m away from a spectator.

The spectator hears the sound of the starting pistol 2.0s after seeing the flash from the

pistol. Using this information, what is the speed of sound in air?

A. 160 m/s

B. 320 m/s

C. 640 m/s

D. 1280 m/s
3. In the experiment shown, the bell is heard ringing. The air is gradually pumped out of the

jar. No change is made to the ringing bell.

After a few minutes, the bell can no longer be heard. Why is this?

A. The amplitude of vibration of the bell decreases.

B. The frequency of vibration of the bell increases.

C. The sound waves from the bell become transverse.

D. The sound waves need a medium to travel through.

4. Sounds are produced by vibrating objects. A certain object vibrates but a person nearby

cannot hear any sound.

Which statement could explain why nothing is heard?

A. The amplitude of the sound waves is too large.

B. The frequency of the vibration is too high.

C. The sound waves are transverse.

D. The speed of the sound waves is too high.

5. Two sounds X and Y are produced by loudspeakers. The amplitude and frequency of each

sound wave is given in the table.

How does sound Y compare with sound X?

A. Y is louder and has a higher pitch.

B. Y is louder and has a lower pitch.

C. Y is quieter and has a higher pitch.

D. Y is quieter and has a lower pitch.

6. A lighted candle is placed in front of a loudspeaker that is making a loud, steady note. The

candle flame vibrates because of the sound wave.

Which type of waves are sound waves and in which direction does the flame vibrate?

7. The diagrams show the wave patterns of four sounds shown on a cathode-ray oscilloscope

(c.r.o.). The oscilloscope controls are set the same for each sound.

Which sound has the highest pitch?

8. A student claps once when standing 100m away from a large wall. The speed of sound in

air is 330m/ s. How long after clapping does the student hear an echo?

A. 0.30s

B. 0.61s

C. 1.7s

D. 3.3s

9. Some sound from a loudspeaker at P travels directly to Q. Sound also reaches Q after

being reflected from a wall at R.

The speed of sound is 330m/ s. What is the difference in time for a sound to travel from P

to Q by the two routes?

6
A. 330
𝑠

16
B. 330
𝑠

C. (6 × 330) s

D. (16 × 330) s

10. To estimate the width of a valley, a climber starts a stopwatch as he shouts. He hears an

echo from the opposite side of the valley after 1.0s.

The sound travels at 330m/ s. What is the width of the valley?

A 82.5m B 165m C 330m D 660m

11. A tennis player hits a ball hard and 0.40s later hears the echo from a wall.

The speed of sound in air is 330m/ s. How far away is the player from the

wall?

A 66 m B 132m C 264m D 825m

12. The sound from a loudspeaker must pass through two materials to reach a microphone.

Which combination of materials gives the shortest time for the sound to reach the

microphone?

13. A sound wave travels from a point X to a point Y.

Which diagram represents the movement of the air molecules, due to the sound wave, in the

region between X and Y?

14. A fire alarm is not loud enough and the pitch is too low. An engineer adjusts the alarm so

that it produces a louder note of a higher pitch. What effect does this have on the

amplitude and on the frequency of the sound waves that the alarm produces?
15. When the volcano Krakatoa erupted in 1883, it was heard 5000km away. Which statement

about the sound from the volcano is not correct?

A. If such a loud sound were to be made today, an astronaut orbiting in space (a vacuum)

at a height of 400km could hear it.

B. People further from the volcano heard the sound later than people nearer to the

volcano.

C. The amplitude of the sound waves would have been smaller further from the volcano.

D. The sound was very loud because a lot of energy was transferred to vibrations of the

air.
PART-2 [25]

THEORY

1. (a) Underline the most appropriate value below for the speed of sound in water.

[1] 1.5 m / s [2] 15 m / s [3]150 m / s [4]1 500 m / s

[5]15 000 m / s [1]

(b) Sound travels in water as a series of compressions and rarefactions. Describe what is

meant by compression and by a rarefaction.

compression .............................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................

rarefaction .................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................... [2]

(c) An echo-sounder sends out a pulse of sound to determine the depth of the sea bed. It

measures the time between sending out the pulse and receiving its echo. Figure shows a

boat using an echo-sounder.

The sea bed is 12 m below the echo-sounder. (i) Use your value for the speed of sound in water

from (a) to calculate the time between the sending out of the pulse and receiving its echo.

time = .............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(ii) The boat passes over a region of the sea bed of the same depth, where the reflection of sound

waves is weaker. State whether there is an increase, a decrease or no change in the amplitude

and pitch of the reflected wave.

amplitude ...........................................................................................................................

pitch ................................................................................................................................... [2]

2. During a thunderstorm, thunder and lightning are produced at the same time.

(a) A person is some distance away from the storm. Explain why the person sees the

lightning before hearing the thunder.

..........................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................... [1]

(b) A scientist in a laboratory made the following measurements during a thunderstorm.

(i) How many minutes after the storm started did it reach its closest point to the

laboratory? ............................................................................................................................ [1]

(ii) How can you tell that the storm was never immediately over the laboratory?

................................................................................................................................................. [1]

(iii) When the storm started, it was immediately above a village 1200 m from the

laboratory. Using this information and information from figure, calculate the speed

of sound. [2]

(iv) State the assumption you made when you calculated your answer to (b)(iii).

............................................................................................................................ [1]
3. Figure shows the path of a sound wave from a source X.

(a) State why a person standing at point Y hears an echo.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(b) The frequency of the sound wave leaving X is 400 Hz. State the frequency of the

sound wave reaching Y. frequency = ……………….. [1]

(c) The speed of the sound wave leaving X is 330 m/s. Calculate the wavelength of

these sound waves. wavelength = ………………………. [2]

(d) Sound waves are longitudinal waves. State what is meant by the term longitudinal.

..........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

4. Figure shows two tall buildings, A and B, that are 99 m apart.

A student stands at P so that his distance from building A is 33 m. After clapping his

hands once, he hears several echoes. The speed of sound in air is 330 m / s. Calculate the

time interval between clapping his hands and hearing

(i) the first echo, time = ......................................................... [2]

(ii) the third echo. time = ......................................................... [1]

(c) Write down an approximate value for the speed of sound

(i) in water, speed = .............................................................

(ii) in steel, speed = ............................................................ [2]

(e) Figure shows a dolphin in water emitting a sound wave of frequency 95 kHz.

Using your value from (c)(i), calculate the wavelength of this sound wave.

wavelength =

……………………………………………………………………………. [2]